Archives for March 2013

I am really excited to participate in my first Recipe Redux. Recipe Redux is a recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians to make dishes delicious and healthy. You will see links below to other reduxers and their recipes each month. Each month has a theme. This month is Green with Herb Envy where we are supposed to use a herb in a non-traditional way. I chose to make my version of sofrito. While many people wouldn’t say this is very traditional. It’s very outside the jar for me.

Since I am new to the redux, I want to tell you a little bit about myself and the reason I chose sofrito as my recipe. I am a Southern belle married to a Puerto Rican. We are both dietitians who met in our internship in Kentucky. We have a lot in common besides nutrition. We love our kids, Auburn Tigers (War Eagle!), SEC football season, cycling, and food! Due to our unceasing competitiveness, we have an ongoing and unspoken “who’s the best cook” challenge. He dared call me “meat lazy” a couple of years into our marriage, and it was on! To be honest, I was. I grew up on every casserole known to man. If you could cover it in cream of something soup, I did. Bless his heart, he ate so many casseroles the first year we were married. He is the expert when it came to seasoning food. He has mad meat skills and is constantly requested by my family to cook for them when they visit. It’s one of the reasons I fell for him anyway so I am really proud they love his food. He has made many dishes for me but never sofrito. I wanted to make my version of sofrito because I miss him terribly. He is in the Air Force and is currently deployed. I guess I really miss him lately because I have been making tostones and plenty of pork and rice. Sharing this with y’all makes me feel closer to him in some odd way.

So enough of the sappy stuff! You say cilantro. I say culantro. Do you know the difference between cilantro and culantro? Did you even know culantro existed or did you think it was a typo for cilantro? Well, you will now! They belong to the same family and smell very similiar, yet culantro is stronger. They also look very different. Culantro looks more like a lettuce leaf and is used in Latin and Asian cooking frequently. Cilantro is very easy to find at any grocery store. Culantro, on the other hand, can be somewhat difficult to find. I had to go to an international market to find it.

Culantro

Culantro and Cilantro with my favorite Puerto Rican Cookbook

Now that you know about the difference, let me tell you about authentic Puerto Rican sofrito. Sofrito is the base for flavoring in many if not most of their dishes. It usually contains salt pork or ham along with lard or oil. It is traditional to cook it on the stove top with the vegetables and herbs to maximize flavors. Ajices dulces are the sweet peppers typically used but very hard to find. It is then used or frozen in small batches to use for other meals. My version is straight up herbs and vegetables. The flavor packs a punch without the added fat.

Now, enjoy! I used this in a roasted chicken versus traditional pork. I placed the sofrito under the skin and filled the cavity with leftover herbs, lime, onion, and garlic. I seasoned the skin with Adobo seasoning and olive oil. I cooked it at 425 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes (depends on your bird’s weight). It was the best roasted chicken I have made yet! I can’t wait for my husband to finally get home so I can surprise him! We will also be having a discussion on why I have never experienced the homemade version until now. If you haven’t tried sofrito before, you really don’t understand the deliciousness you are missing. Forgo the jarred sofrito in the grocery store and make your own.

Step inside any grocery store today and you will more than likely find shelf tags with some type of health related message. Over the last decade, identifying health attributes at point of purchase has become more commonplace. You may have heard about NuVal, Guiding Stars, or ANDI. Who you may have not heard of is healthyAisles. healthyAisles is the brainchild of Vestcom, an innovative retail marketing service company. The difference between the more well known programs and healthyAisles is that is completely customized to the retailer. You will never see healthyAisles on any signage or have to explain what it means. healthyAisles gives control of their program to the retailer that fits around their health and wellness program, including the name. It is currently is in 27 retailers nationwide since it’s launch in 2008.

What is healthyAisles?

healthyAisles is made up of 3 components: Core/Center Store, Fresh Perimeter, and vitaAisles. Core / Center Store is composed of 33 health attributes using FDA and USDA guidelines. Almost 200,000 items are in their database that are analyzed by ingredient and nutrition facts data. Carb Aware is a new addition to healthyAisles within the core/center store program. It is based on the American Diabetes Association guidelines to aid shoppers in navigating the snack, cereal, and canned fruit aisles to make more informed carbohydrate choices. It also may help supermarket dietitians in educating shoppers at the shelf edge. Retailers can buy all 33 attributes to use on their store shelves or they can buy 8-10 or even 1. It’s completely up to the retailer. Fresh Perimeter, another component of healthyAisles, focuses on fresh produce, meat, and dairy. It’s the same concept as the center store where selected health attributes are assigned to products.

photo courtesy of Vestom

The vitamin category is around a $11.5 billion industry in the U.S., making it the largest category in dollar sales. In a survey by Vestcom, 74% of respondents said they want more detailed information at point of purchase regarding vitamins. Vestcom took this need seriously and recently launched vitaAisles, a program that engages consumers in the pharmacy/vitamin section of the store at the shelf edge. Using the same FDA defined claims, vitaAisles is meant to support in-store pharmacists and dietitians in helping shoppers make more informed decisions. You can see their infographic from their research on vitamins here. vestcom-vitaAisles-infographic

Photo courtesy of Vestcom

What are the advantages of using healthyAisles?

It provides consumers with evidence based messaging using the FDA , USDA, and ADA (American Diabetes Association) guidelines. No scientific formula is needed. The database is continually updated to provide the retailer with the most current information. Supermarket dietitians have access to healthyAisles professional tools which gives them access to the data itself as well as the information behind the data that goes into assigning the health attributes. Carb Aware and vitaAisles go a step further in point of purchase health messaging to give a total health and total store approach.

Why is health and nutrition information at point of purchase so important?

Jeff Weidauer, Vice President of Marketing and Strategy at Vestcom says, “Retailers should be engaging shoppers as experts in food.” He says where trust has been lost with manufacturers, retailers have opportunity to gain trust and customer loyalty through programs like healthyAisles. Consumers are looking for a a relationship. He goes on to elaborate that a “price only” focus diminishes the relationship by not supplying a feel good experience for the consumer. By helping the consumer select and prepare foods, especially those with health conditions, retailers can make a major impact in the bottom line while gaining lifelong customers and relationships.

If you would like to learn more about healthyAisles or vitaAisles, check out their website.

Once again supermarket dietitians are making big news. Last week, USA Today did a feature on retailers and their hiring of supermarket dietitians to combat the obesity problem in America. Since the late 1990s, the hiring of supermarket dietitians has grown exponentially. With this type of growth in the field, it’s important to understand the pioneering history of the supermarket dietitian and the contributions to consumers health at point of purchase throughout our history. Since March is National Nutrition Month, I want to showcase dietitians who have helped pave the way for today’s dietitians throughout the country helping consumers at point of purchase.

There are many inspirational people who started bringing health and nutrition to life in the supermarket. Many of them were home economists, but a select few were dietitians. Gerri Seinberg is a dietitian who worked for a chain called Food Fair out of Pennsylvania. She started as a test kitchen director in 1967. Her main job was to publish weekly menu planners with recipes and worked at promoting their private label brands. When nutrition labeling laws came into play, she contributed to analyzing private label products. As her position grew, Gerri became involved more in quality control and development of private label products, answering consumer complaints, and preparing weekly publications. Once supermarkets became involved with prepared foods, her training in food preparation prepared her for a new position in Deli Operations. In this position, she wrote several manuals and merchandising programs for the deli and bakery and trained staff in about 500 stores. When Food Fair went bankrupt, Gerri moved to Florida and worked for Pantry’s Pride & Sun Supermarkets in deli operations and then onto Xtra Supermarkets as the Director of Bulk Foods. At Xtra Supermarkets, she increased gross profits from 8% to 28% and updated the appearance and merchandising of their departments.

After 28 years in the supermarket industry, Gerri went on to contract with companies like Black and Decker, Sunbeam, Sweet N’ Low, GE, and KitchenAid, among a few. Today, Gerri is retired but volunteers in community affairs. She still develops and tests recipes for an e-zine, Sucree.

So how does this apply to today? Gerri’s training as a dietitian gave her skills to contribute to more than one department. Her skills let her branch out into many venues within the supermarket, and there is much to be learned from that. As with many chains, a supermarket dietitian’s position is unique to each retailer. Many make it up as they go along. Gerri’s experience can apply to today’s supermarket dietitian by thinking outside the box and asking themselves how they can make an impact within more than just marketing, communications, and pharmacy. Several supermarket RD’s are all ready doing this in product labeling and regulatory issues, but it’s an intriguing concept not only to have a supermarket dietitian as a corporate merchandiser for a supermarket, but even to have them as a president or vice president.

Stay tuned for more dietitians to be featured in this series. A special thanks to Gerri Seinberg for contributing her experience and valuable history.

Breakfast cookies have been all the rage on Pinterest. I see them every time I log in. I finally decided to try them since I had some really ripe bananas to use. I originally found a recipe from The Burlap Bag, but of course I always add my own touch. I love recipes that are simple and use whole ingredients. Adding the flax seed gives them a punch of Omega 3’s. My kids were too skeptical to try them, but if I make them enough times I think they will give in. Someone had recommended using applesauce instead of bananas for this recipe. Either way, I like that this uses whole, simple ingredients. It’s very easy for kids to make. My 4 year old loved making this recipe with me.

March is National Nutrition Month. I like to think of it as a month of analyzing my progress on my health resolutions. I definitely need make a few tweaks. I have been eating an anti-inflammatory diet for some time now. It can definitely drive me crazy at times especially when it comes to baking. Baking is one of my true loves in life, so gluten free baking has been a huge challenge for me. I had such confidence with my tried and true recipes that require butter and wheat. Nonetheless, I have been diligent, and it has paid off.

Pancakes are one of my favorite weekend meals. In an attempt to get my pancakes back, I have been playing with gluten free flours. I feel like I finally got it right with these pancakes using almond flour. These even taste better than my original version where I used buttermilk. I like the texture this flour provides. Almond flour is also high in protein (6 grams per 1/4 cup) and in Vitamin E. It is also a low carbohydrate flour. I encourage you to look at some of your favorite recipes and see how you can make them healthier. Sometimes, it is just a simple substitution. Let me know if you try these. I promise you won’t be disappointed.